CHAPTER THREE: BUFFY
Saturday: 6:30pm25th January
New York: St Peter's Hospital
Mary Cartwright stood nervously outside the children's ward. She knew she would be fired, if not outright arrested and deported, if she were caught helping someone escape with a patient. But, she also knew that if she wasn't seen in the children's ward, she wouldn't be connected to it at all.
Ethan Rayne appeared a few minutes later, carrying a sleeping child in his arms. He winked at Mary and continued down the hall, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible. He breathed a sigh of relief when he stepped outside into the parking lot.
"This is the last time I ever do this again, I'll tell you that," he whispered to the sleeping child. He smiled when he finally saw what the girl was clutching in a death grip. A stuffed pink pig. He frowned a little when he remembered that the Council would be quick to take it away from her.
He placed her gently in the front seat of his car, strapping her in carefully. He gave a sad sigh, knowing what was going to happen to this young girl that he was about to hand over to the Council. She would be trained to be a Slayer, whether she was Called or not.
She would most likely never see her home again, and her life would ultimately be cut short. It was one of the few things that got to him, especially when he witnessed these children so peaceful like Beth Summers. He had to admit she did look like a darling child.
He shook of his hesitancy and drove towards the private landing strip just outside of New York. There would be a plane waiting for him there to take he and the Potential Slayer to London. He could only hope that the young girl didn't hate airplanes.
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Buffy slept for the better part of the trip. Ethan had set her on a seat that had reclined fully, and her diminutive stature meant she had a massive amount of legroom. When she awoke, she had been confused to say the least.
Ethan had watched her carefully as the girl opened her baby blue eyes and looked at her surroundings. She had taken one look at Ethan and begun screaming. Ethan had been hard-pressed to not cover his ears, and instead, he had stepped forward to try and comfort the girl.
"Beth, Beth, it's okay," he said, trying to be reassuring.
She just kept screaming and ignoring him, kicking him when he got close enough. He winced as one of the kicks hit his knee.
"Definitely a Potential," he whispered to himself.
After another minute of screaming, Ethan had had enough. He lunged towards the girl and clamped a hand over her mouth to stop the noise. He lifted her effortlessly and placed her on his knee, hand still covering her mouth.
"If I let you go, will you be quiet?" he asked.
She glared at him, and Ethan tried not to smile. She really was adorable. She finally gave up their silent staring competition and nodded. He moved his hand away only to have her begin screaming again. He clamped her mouth shut again.
"I can sit with you like this the entire flight if I have to," he warned. "It won't be comfortable for you, but it won't bother me."
She glared and rolled her eyes. She had a certain amount of fire to her that Ethan liked. In a move that was quicker than Buffy could react to, Ethan grabbed the pink pig off Buffy and held it out of her reach. The girl's eyes welled with tears and Ethan immediately saw that he had won.
"I'll give this back to you if you promise to stop screaming, alright?" he asked.
Buffy nodded fearfully and held out her hands to accept the pig. Ethan gave it to her, and took his hand from her mouth. Buffy just hugged the animal fiercely, but didn't begin her screaming again. Ethan breathed a silent sigh of relief.
"You're Beth Summers, yes?" he asked.
Buffy's eyes narrowed and she shook her head, no. Ethan felt a moment of sheer panic. He should have checked that before they were halfway across the Atlantic.
"You're not?"
"Nup," she replied.
"Can you tell me your name?" he asked.
Buffy shook her head. Ethan almost grinned but held back. He knew what her game was.
"Why not?" he asked, mock offended.
"Not 'sposed to talk to strangers," she replied.
Ethan smiled and stroked the girl's hair. He'd never really been fond of children before, but this girl was hard not to like.
"Well, tell you what," he said calmly. "I'll tell you my name, and you can tell me yours."
Buffy hesitated but finally nodded. She couldn't see either of her parents anywhere, so she would take what attention she could get.
"I'm Ethan."
Buffy giggled a little.
"You talk funny."
"That's cos I'm British, luv," he explained.
"British? Was'at?"
"It means that I'm from Britain. England," he explained.
"Far away?" she asked.
"Yes, very far."
"Further than N'York is from Taliforn?"
Ethan paused at that. Taliforn? It suddenly clicked. "You mean California?"
"S'what I said," she replied.
"If you say so. And, yes…further than California is from New York," he explained.
Buffy nodded, unable to comprehend the distance. She and her parents had flown from Los Angeles to New York only two days ago, and it had been the longest (and only) flight that Buffy had ever been on. She had adored the plane ride and had been eager to go back home so she could go on a plane for the second time.
"We goin' back to Taliforn?" she asked.
Ethan shook his head sadly. "Nope. We're going to London, in England."
Buffy tilted her head to the side. "Why?"
"Because," he replied playfully.
Buffy giggled and looked at him imploringly. "My momma and daddy gonna meet us there?"
Ethan immediately sobered. He had had to do this once before, and he had hated every second of it. The last Potential had been eight years old and had been hard to deal with, but having to explain to a five year old was just too much for him.
"Someone will explain when we get there, alright?" he asked, hoping to pass on the task to one of the official Watcher's. He wasn't even a member of Council, merely someone who would do the dirty work so that it couldn't be traced back to them.
Buffy nodded and finally relaxed in Ethan's arms, the sedative still in her system making her tired.
"You still haven't told me your name," he whispered.
Buffy sighed, almost asleep. "Buffy."
"And your last name?"
"Summers."
Ethan sighed with relief. Beth Summers. Buffy must have been a nickname. He felt himself relax and let his arms come around to cuddle the girl closer to him. Within minutes, both the older British man and the young Californian girl were asleep.
(And, NO, Ethan is NOT a paedophile. I really like his character, so…yeah. You'll see a lot more of him.)